Virginia museums offer two views of Civil War

Natasha Robinson

RICHMOND, Va. — Nearly a century and a half after Jefferson Davis fled Richmond and Civil War cannons fell silent, two museums here offering very different views of the war between the states indicate that the divisions it caused are still not fully healed.

The century-old Museum of the Confederacy offers a more single-minded approach to the war. Red, white and blue battle flags from different Confederate troops wave from the ceiling. Three levels of exhibits feature bullet-riddled uniforms, blood-spattered letters from dying soldiers and maps generals once used to lead their men. Located in downtown Richmond, the museum bills itself as home to the world’s largest collection of Confederate artifacts.

At the upstart American Civil War Center, located between the James River and downtown, visitors will find a mixture of old shackles that were once chained to slaves and musty uniforms amid modern touches. Four television displays offer presentations throughout the museum, proposing thinking points, while introducing perspectives from the Union, Confederacy and blacks.

Waite Rawls is president of the Museum of the Confederacy and offers no apologies for its approach, which he says inspires debate.

“Because of its beginnings, it’s completely devoted to the Confederacy,” Rawls said. “Now, as a research facility and the programs that we give, it’s not a Confederate memorial — and let’s wave the Confederate flag and fight the war all over again.”

Founders of the American Civil War Center are stressing a broader, less Confederate-centric approach by focusing on most of the people affected by the war.

“This is not just another Civil War museum,” said Alexander Wise, consultant to the museum. This story, he said, goes beyond the formula of guns, saddles and battles to tell how the Civil War actually changed people’s lives.

“It’s about the people and the ideas that motivate them and it gives you the big picture,” Wise said.

With its vast collection and exhibits, the Museum of the Confederacy still tells a story.

Calvin Holloway came from Raleigh, N.C., to visit the museum recently and thought it presented a great learning opportunity for his children. He said most people have focused on slavery as the primary cause of the Civil War, while Holloway said economic forces were more at play.

“The South was getting a lot of push from the Northern industry and I think it was less about race than it was made out to be,” Holloway said.

Portraits and slave auction signs explain how land, geography and slavery played a role in the Confederacy, and eventually split Virginia into two states — West Virginia and Virginia.

The museum stands near the collection’s original home, the White House of the Confederacy. Visitors can see how Jefferson Davis, the Confederacy’s president, and his family lived. That perk may be short-lived since the museum is looking to relocate and expand, Rawls said.

Built in Tredegar Iron Work, a Civil War-era artillery factory, the American Civil War Center begins a wall-side timeline with the signing of the Declaration of Independence, builds to the Civil War and culminates in uniting two nations into the United States as we know it.

The museum has a display area where children can play with period toys and write letters to fictional soldiers.

Abraham Lincoln and many others are quoted on several ceiling-to-floor banners. Along the stairwell of the two-level exhibit, a “wall of faces” shows stone-faced soldiers and civilians, both black and white, all affected by the war.

For William Peene and Diana Jules, a couple visiting from out of state, the exhibits were eye opening.

“People need to see what is going on instead of this close-minded ‘We’re gonna write what we want you to believe.’ This is factual stuff,” said Peene.

Another visitor echoed the same sentiments, and said she felt tricked by history books she read growing up in the ’60s.

“I was always raised to believe that the North had always intended to free the slaves and, as you go through here, you realize that wasn’t the case — that it was almost by accident that it happened,” said Roberta Herron of Minneapolis.

Many visitors had just wandered in after business trips, but typically did not plan a trip to either museum. Declining attendance at these museums follows a national trend.

American Association of Museums spokesman Jason Hall traces the trend to a number of factors — busier two-income families, new technologies and so on.

“There’s a lot more competition for the public’s attention,” Hall said. “There just seems to be a lack of discretionary time.”

Annual visitation to the Museum of the Confederacy has dropped from 92,000 to 51,500 since the early ’90s, partially the result of Virginia Commonwealth University’s sprawling medical college expanding around them, Rawls said.

The museum is planning to relocate for more space and easier accessibility, even if that means moving outside of Richmond. Officials are not making their suitors known publicly, although Lexington has been announced as a consideration.

The American Civil War Center isn’t close to their projected 60,000 annual visitors 10 months into their opening, and officials would not say how many visitors had come so far. The museum had about 40 visitors by midday one recent day — a good pace, said a ticket salesman.

(Associated Press)